UGLY
by TRikiD
Summary: Don was once a normal teenage boy, but he is suddenly cursed and forced through an adventure to not only get his old life back, but his memories too. He tags along with five others that he never expected to become friends with, but only because they had the same exact curse cast on them too. Together, they have to help Don learn an important life lesson, and stop Vincent.
1. Chapter 1

U.G.L.Y

Chapter 1 - Vincent's Curse

It was a rather cool and misty morning in the San Francisco Bay Area; especially out towards the docks on the coast. The coast was usually very calm, though; rather beautiful spot actually, and seagulls were out flying and crying while enjoying the morning.

One family was glad that they lived in such a gloomy spot not just because their last name was literally 'Downer', but mostly because this part of the Bay Area was very safe; there were no criminals, and there was never any danger. Everyone in the small and sleepy town of Eunedapal were all usually very good people, but the heart of the town was the Downers' Desserts; a café that made REALLY good breakfast dishes, snacks after lunch, and delectable desserts after dinner. The sweet café was probably what made everyone in Yunitapal so sweet inside…at least, if you actually ate at the café.

The one person that could not enjoy the savory sweets was the son of the Downers, Don; he has a rare allergy of sugar, he's lactose-intolerant and he throws up every time he eats chocolate for some reason, so yeah, I think you get the picture.

And right now, at seven in the morning, the annoying beeping of Don's digital alarm lock was ringing, in which Don reacted slowly to; he let out a bunch of tired groans while reaching a hand to the off button on the clock, and he was soon able to hit the button to shut the stupid thing off.

The fifteen year old sat up, revealing a head of messy, bright red hair; once Don was done rubbing his groggy eyes, it was revealed that he had very sparkly green eyes…with bags under them of course. The thin and pale teen then stood from his bed, which was more or less only a mattress with thin blankets in a dark attic with only a single window, and he slipped on a pair of dark blue jeans, black and white sneakers, a green t with a red jacket over it, and he left his hair a mess.

But just when he was about to walk down the stairs, a fast and barking object suddenly came crashing into Don, knocking him down onto his back. The object was a chubby, fawn-colored pug, but despite being a usually cute breed, Don's pug was almost a bigger mess than his hair; the pug always had ruffled fur, and no matter how many baths they gave him, he always had flies hanging around him.

"Ricky, no! Down, Boy! Stop! Stop it!" Don laughed as little messy Ricky constantly kept licking his master's face; yeah, out of his whole family and everyone one who comes in and goes out of Downers' Desserts, Ricky chose Don to bond with the most.

"Your breath STINKS," Don chuckled when he was finally able to stop Ricky's licking by standing up and holding Ricky in his arms.

But after that was resolved, Ricky was now walking downstairs through the top apartment, which was where the Downers' lived, and it was right above their café. And when Don got to the kitchen, he set Ricky down, and he made himself a bowl of corn flakes cereal; once he was finished eating, and he and Ricky headed down the second flight of stairs to Don's parents' humble little café.

Don's mom Diana Downer was where he got his red hair and green eyes from; she had short and curly hair like Shirley Temple, she always liked to wear her trusty white apron, even when not working, and she had remained thin with the exorcise she gets by not just going on her daily night runs, but also by the walking to and fro behind the counter with her husband.

Speaking of which, Rocko Downer was a very big a buff man with blue eyes, and he had short and spiky black hair; everyone called him Rocky.

The reason Don isn't going to school is because he's home schooled, but even though he's literally always home, he still spends most of his time working in the café; luckily, Ricky is always there to keep Don going, and he happily eats whatever crumbs or blobs of frosting that Don accidentally drops.

But it had always been like this for Don; ever since he was five, he would always help his parents, and he'd never gone to a real public school, and his teachers are always either his mom or his dad. Again, Don is VERY grateful he has Ricky; actually, Don had never had Ricky until his parents got him a puppy on his ninth birthday. Life has been easier for Don since, and the boy and the dog have been best buddies from that day on.

Don and Ricky had always had to greet their best friends every Saturday morning, and luckily, today was in fact Saturday; Don's best friend, other than Ricky, was a girl the same age as him, wore a pale yellow country dress, green eyes, and long and wavy blonde hair; her name was Tessa Turner. Tessa was always a sweet girl with a slight southern accent, and Tessa and Don had known each other since they were merely three.

Eventually, Don and Tessa figured they needed a third best friend, and that's when they met annoying yet lovable girl Jackie Johanna; Jackie was about two years older than them, she was a mixture of goth and punk rock, always like to wear pink and black punk rock attire, blue eyes, and she had always worn her hair into a tall, black Mo-hawk. Jackie was annoying because she's usually very rude, negative and introverted, but Don and Tessa know she's a good friend because she likes their moxie, and she's really tough, so she protects them from bullies sometimes too.

"Hey, Tessa, Jackie! What's up?" Don called when he got downstairs, and he saw Tessa and Jackie sitting at their normal table right across from the service counter.

"Hey!" Tessa happily called back.

"'Sup?"

"I asked you first, Jackie," Don pointed out with a grin, as he sat down at his normal seat at their table.

"Fair enough," Jackie sighed.

But that was suddenly when they heard Ricky's hyper yapping because every time Jackie and Tessa came over, he was more excited than a puppy getting a treat…but not because the girls were here.

Trained and/or monophobic pets were always welcome in Downer's Desserts, and Jackie and Tessa had pets of their own too.

Tessa had a dark grey female husky named Taylor; everyone who sees Taylor always thinks she's actually a wolf. Tessa even admits that Taylor looks a bit more wolf than husky because her fur was usually very long and scruffy, but Taylor is a really sweet dog, just like her owner.

Jackie's pet was a very little white Chihuahua, but she looked NOTHING like Chloe from Beverly Hills Chihuahua; Jackie's Chihuahua Joan was somehow always covered in a few weird blotches that no one has ever figured what they are, and Joan's eyes were ALWAYS so buggy; not only that, but she's always shaking like she's in an earthquake.

And as soon as Ricky came running up to the giant husky/wolf and the teacup-sized Chihuahua, they all started sniffing at each other.

"Man, I am SO glad we aren't dogs," Jackie pointed out groggily.

"Why does someone like YOU even have a Chihuahua? No offense…" Don added.

"None taken. Chihuahua's can be very energetic, unlike me—and they can be very vicious too."

Tessa and Don knew Jackie liked dark things, but they blinked with surprise at that last part.

"Right, well, um…ah'm gonna get a Danish. You gahs want one too?" Taylor soon asked.

"No," Jackie replied.

"Allergies," Don added with a shrug.

"K, then ah'll be raht back," Taylor said with a smile, and she left the table to get a strawberry Danish from Diana.

"What a daffodil," Jackie added grimly.

"Yeah, and you're a cactus," Don chuckled.

"Yes, I am," Jackie growled as she leaned forward to get up in Don's face with a glare, "care ta add ta that, Red?"

"Nope," Don gulped, and Jackie sat back at that.

But the two suddenly jumped back in their seats when the window they were sitting next to was suddenly hit by a seagull that crashed into it; it flew away like nothing happened the next second, though.

"What idiot birds," Don insulted.

"I can vouch for that; they're nothing but savage scavengers. One time, they gave me this scar when trying to steal my hot dog, and I STILL have ta take ointment for it…wanna see it?" Jackie explained sadly.

"Ahh, no! No!" Don shouted when he flailed his arms to shield his eyes when Jackie stood up from her seat, "uh…no thanks."

Jackie rolled her eyes and sat back down at that.

"Pervert," the goth/punk girl muttered.

"Hey, ah'm back. What'd ah miss?" Tessa asked when she finally came back with her Danish in a napkin.

"Nothin'. Hey, don't you have a spring break vacation to get to, Tess?" Don questioned.

"Yeah. We're goin' ta Murtle Beach for a month…but ah gotta leave mah beloved Taylor behind at the shelter while ah'm gone," Tessa replied happily at first, but when she brought up having to leave her dog behind, she sadly scratched behind Taylor's ear, in which the grey husky whined.

"Don't worry. I can stop by the shelter every few days to check on Taylor if ya want," Don suggested.

"Oh, would you? That'd by swell. Thank ya kindly, Don," Tessa said with sincerity.

"Don, Dear! Could you please help you father carry the Henderson's wedding cake out to their car?" Dianna called, as the boy and the two girls glanced over at the counter, where Rocko was trying to carry a five foot tall wedding cake in his buff arms. But as strong at the man was, he needed help with a heavy cake like this, as his knees and arms were now shaky.

"Nope! No, I don't need help!" Rocko quickly called out of pride when he kept making his way towards the back, "I got everything under-WHOA!"

Rocko jinxed himself when a sudden loud crash and pots and pans falling emitted from the kitchen; you didn't need to see the fall to determine whether or not the cake was destroyed.

"Would you please help your father carry the back up cake?" Dianna sighed in disappointment, and she soon went back to clean up the mess.

Tessa and Don couldn't help but laugh; even grim Jackie got a slight amused smile out of it.

* * *

"Happy wedding!" Rocko called when the Henderson's van drove off with their wedding cake safely in the back.

"You work at a café, and yet you had to swallow some salty pride taday, huh Pop?" Don asked with a grin.

"Well, pride is worth the payment, Champ," Rocko added as he pulled out the wad of cash the Hendersons just paid him, and he soon walked back inside.

Don was about to follow his dad back indoors, but he stopped and became intrigued by their trashcans suddenly rustling, and there was a stressful sound of squawking coming from behind the metal cans too.

Don soon walked behind the trashcans, and he was shocked to see a seagull who had been helplessly earth bound because there was a layer of duck tape wrapped around his wings. The bird jerked back and whimpered when it looked up and saw Don.

"Aw, poor thing. Must've been a' couple of jerky teenagers. But don't worry; I'm not like them," Don softly reassured when he squatting down to the bird, and he soon picked it up; the teen then started unraveling the tape as gently as he could without hurting or removing any important feathers from the bird.

"There ya go. That must feel MUCH better, right? Just stay away from people and up in the sky, where you belong, ok Little Guy?" Don asked once all the tape was off, and he had the seagull held belly-front in his hands.

The bird seemed to smile and give a thankful squawk…but that was when Don noticed something off. Before the red head knew it, the bird suddenly blinked, and its once black eyes became dark purple, crazed eyes, and the bird flashed Don an evil grin.

But that wasn't the weirdest thing to come from the bird.

"You know, I didn't like it when you called us 'idiots'," the seagull growled in a high, maniacal, male voice, "but you were right about one thing—we are savage."

"You're…y-you're a demon," Don shuddered out of true terror while still keeping a shaky hold of the bird.

"Oh no, not demon—a wizard," the seagull pointed out darkly.

"Wha…?" was all Don could mutter.

But without warning, the seagull suddenly unfolded his white wings with immense strength for a bird, and he was string enough to cause Don to accidentally let of him. But in the blink of an eye, the seagull took this opportunity to bring out the long and razor sharp claws on his left webbed foot, and he suddenly scratched his right fore arm from his wrist to his elbow.

Don cried out in pain, and he started to become light-headed and hazy, as he suddenly collapsed. When the teen fell to the concrete ground, and the seagull flew off with maniacal cackling that echoed in Don's ears, the teen's vision became fuzzy and black. And the last thing he saw were the three deep and long scars on his right arms…and the oddest thing about the scars is that instead of rust-colored blood, they flashed a bright violet light, just before Don finally went unconscious.

* * *

When Don came to, his vision was closer to the ground than he remembered…that is, if he could really remember anything. Unfortunately, when Don woke up, he couldn't remember a thing; he couldn't remember what his name was or even who he was anymore.

"W…where am I…who am I?" Don asked in a whisper when he blinked as he finally awoke and stood. He looked up to find that the dark blue and star-filled sky had indicated that it was nighttime, and the full moon shone brightly in the cloudless sky.

"Don!"

"Huh?" Don asked when he heard someone call a name, and he was curious as to walked around from the alley and to the building's front entrance, where he saw a couple.

That couple was Rocko and Dianna Downer, and they were worried to death because they haven't seen their sun all day.

"Don! Where are you, Honey?" Dianna cried.

"Don!" Rocko called louder than his wife.

"'Don'?" Don himself questioned, his lack of any memories keeping him from realizing that HE was their son.

"Gee, I hope they find their…'Don'," Don sighed sadly.

But the sad moment was short-lived when a sudden rustling came from the alley he just came out of. Don couldn't help but turn around, but there was nothing but an empty alley way, a metal fence, and a single dim street light on the other side.

"Hello?" Don called out. No voices came.

"Anyone there?" Don urged on, as he dared to start slowly walking into the alley; he cautiously continued to glance around him.

Don's breaths started to speed up, and his eyes started darting around quicker when he suddenly heard whispers, as they echoed off the alley walls. Out of fear, Don quickly turned around, and he was backing up slowly.

"H-hello?" Don squeaked in terror, but he gasped when he suddenly saw five dark figures emerge from the shadows, and he couldn't make them out.

The five figures started to slowly close in on him, as their eyes glowed in the moonlight with glares. As Don tried to back away from the mysterious figures, he unfortunately soon found himself backed up against the fence. He was trapped.

And it didn't help that the figure in the middle started to growl, as it was now the closest to Don. And just when the short shadow, who turned out to be a fawn-colored, scruffy pug dog, Lady Luck seemed to smile down on the boy.

"Ricky, wait," a feminine, southern voice suddenly piped up.

The shadow in front of Don stopped and turned, and when came out into the light was a grey husky...it was actually Taylor, but Don wouldn't have remembered her.

"Ah…Ah know those eyes. How do you, outta all others, not see who he is?" Taylor asked with excitement, after she was squinting into Don's emerald eyes.

Ricky, Don's pug, slowly glanced back at Dog, and squinted into his eyes as well…but not three seconds later did the pug suddenly gasp.

"D-Don?" Ricky whimpered in fear, and he had a string Australian accent, "but how?!"

"W-what? Do you mean…and why are you calling me 'Don'?" Don questioned.

"Well, first of all, you're not a boy anymore; you're now somehow a kiwi bird. And second…are you saying you can't remember your own name?" Ricky asked with worry, and Don shook his head in reply.

"I-I don't remember a thing," Don added.

Suddenly, Taylor started to sniff the air, and she soon approached Don with her curious nose; she soon gasped when she sniffed the right side of the kiwi bird's body.

"He's been injured, Ricky—by Vincent," the husky/wolf sadly replied.

The others gasped, and that's when the other three figures came out of the shadows; Joan was there, she was Jackie's Chihuahua, if you recalled, and there was a small and ugly box turtle, along with a giant, blue-ish grey, fat cat as big as Taylor.

"V-Vincent? W-who's this 'Vincent'?" Don questioned.

"He's the one who out that curse on you, Friend. We never knew Vincent would try it on a human, and you're the first one," Ricky started.

"That must be why he's suffering from amnesia; the affects of the curse are different on a human being than on an animal," the box turtle pointed out in a geeky tone.

"Vincent? Curse? What the heck are you guys talking about? It's like I'm sitting in the dark here," Don cut in.

"Well Kid, let me put it technically; you used to be a human teenage boy and NOT a funny-lookin' kiwi bird, until a seagull named Vincent tricked you and put this curse on ya. You're cursed ta look like an ugly animal that no one will love fer the rest of your life. How's that for an explanation, Kid?" Joan explained in a raspy voice.

"Why?" Don asked.

"Vincent is a deranged seagull, but no one really knows exactly why. But he has always seen himself as an unseemly, insignificant bird, so he travels around, inflicting other animals who are as beautiful as him with this retched spell for them to suffer just as he did," the fat cat started to explain in a strong British accent.

"But you're the first human he's ever cast the spell on, which is whah ya can't remember a thing," Taylor added.

"The human anatomy is rather different from the animal anatomy," the turtle couldn't help but point out.

"What they're saying, Don, is that we weren't always the animals you see now—we used to be something else, just like you," Ricky added.

"But you were never really a hot kid makin' girls swoon over you, so why would Vincent waste a spell on YOU?" Joan rudely asked.

"Joan!" Ricky snapped in a whisper, in which the Chihuahua shrugged.

"Speakin' a' which, shouldn't we introduce ourselves?" Taylor pointed out with a sheepish smile.

"Are you sure, Tay? We've probably scared 'm enough already," Ricky added with worry.

"Relax, Rick. It's not like he'll remember you as his best friend," Joan grimly pointed out.

"Joan!" Taylor snapped.

"Point being, we are in the same misfortune as Don; therefore, it is only fair that we take him under our wing, in order to help the lad regain his memory," the fat cat calmly stated.

"And we need to teach him our code," added the box turtle with a smile.

"'Code'?" Don questioned, still quite shocked after he took a good look t himself to discover that he really DID take the form of the small, flightless, brown kiwi bird. But what did it matter? He couldn't remember that he used to be a human in the first place.

"That's right, Mate. Our code is the ONLY fail-safe that Vincent…well, failed to notice in his curse, making it the only thing that can return you back to normal, and can hopefully return your memories as well," Ricky explained, "so, with that being said, I'll introduce myself first."

With that, the pug took a few steps backwards, and closed his eyes tightly to concentrate; the others had cleared away to make room.

"Ya may wanna sit down, Kid," Joan quickly added.

Everyone remained quiet and still, as a bright red aura began to engulf Ricky, and the harder he concentrated on his heart, the brighter the light grew. And before anyone knew it, the pug, whose form was now completely indecipherable by light, started to shift and change.

Don's eyes went wide and his beak went slack with both shock and amazement, but the others seemed so calm and undisturbed by what was happening before them, that they were all just smiling.

Soon, the short, pug figure that Ricky used to hold became tall and slim, and the bright red aura suddenly disappeared form around Ricky's body in a big whoosh. And what Don had seen Ricky become truly astounded him.

There was no longer a pug standing there, but there was now a full grown, tall, slender, hot Doberman dog with orange-red eyes, and wearing a leather jacket with red and yellow flame designs. As unbelievable as it sounds, that Doberman was Ricky.

"R-R…Ricky?" Don stammered while daring to take a few steps up to the tall dog, and he stared up at him with even wider eyes and an even more slack beak, in which Ricky smiled down at him.

"Yup. It's me—the REAL me," Ricky calmly replied.

"But how?" Don questioned.

"It's like we said; there's a exit clause in Vincent's spell—but it's not THAT easy," Ricky explained.

"It took us a while," Taylor began, "but we soon realized that the exit clause was really a life lesson we all needed."

Don turned when he heard Taylor's voice, but when he glanced back at everyone, he found that they had all changed, just like Ricky.

Taylor was now a tall and beautiful Standard Poodle with flawless, wavy, white fur; she had bright, sparkling yellow eyes, and she wore a collar of shimmering yellow sapphire gemstones around her neck.

Joan was no longer a jittery, mysteriously-stained Chihuahua anymore; she was now an albino rat with pink eyes, and she looked a lot like her owner Jackie; Joan wore a black leather jacket that was conveniently rat-sized, a choker around her neck, her claws were painted either black or pink, and she had a black and pink come-over of her fur that grew down to her left shoulder.

What used to be a box turtle was now a cute and fluffy, black and white skunk with bright purple eyes, and he was wearing a purple turtle neck sweater. And what used to be a big, fat cat was now a slim and clean, blue-grey fox bright blue eyes, and a monocle placed over his left eye.

"I believe we've never really met before. Um, I'm Waldo," Waldo, the skunk, pointed out.

"And I am Beauregard IV," Beauregard, the fox, stated in a respectful bow.

"And ya may not remember us, but I'm Taylor, and this is Joan," Taylor added kindly while pointing a paw at the said rat.

"So…I'm supposed to remember you three…but what about you guys?" Don asked when he referred to Beauregard and Waldo.

"Those two are the house pets of a close friend of ours—the ONLY other friend of ours," Joan replied while sharpening her claws with a nail file.

"But what does that have to do with me?" Don questioned.

"Uh, technically speaking…nothing," Waldo sighed.

"But ya really should come with us, Don. As long as ya remain in yer vulnerable little state, it's just not safe for ya ta be alone…especially not in California," Taylor added with concern, and she shuddered at the last part.

"Well, we can't just let 'm come with us for nothin'; we need to at least try ta help the kid get his memories back, right?" Joan pointed out.

…

"You sick, Joan? I don't recall you being so…concerned," Waldo asked with a smirk, mostly because him and the others, except Don, knew that Joan was usually a but of a jerk.

"Can it, Stinky," the rat growled.

"F.Y.I. I actually bathe everyday—unlike you rats," the skunk grimly added while angrily turning and crossing his arms.

"You'll take that back, or I swear, on the name of-," Joan said as she started to grit her teeth.

"Of who? My mother? At least SHE didn't dress up like some dark clown," Waldo pointed out in a snarky tone.

"You're gonna regret you EVER said that," Joan growled, and her voice was lower than it's ever been, as if it were demonic, and the rat bared her razor sharp claws.

But when Joan let out a war cry and pounced for Waldo, she was effortlessly stopped by Beauregard when the said British fox stopped her by grabbing her tail gently in his mouth in midair.

"Agh, come on!" Joan groaned after trying to swing out of the fox's hold, but to no avail.

"Uh…" was all Don could say.

"Should we go now?" Taylor questioned with a cocked eyebrow after Joan actually just tried to attack Waldo…though she knew she shouldn't be THAT surprised; it was Joan, after all.

* * *

Don, still trapped in his kiwi bird form with no memories, was now somehow walking through a creepy and weird land; everywhere he looked, there was a dark green mist limiting his vision, and it seemed to be a combination of a city in shambles after an apocalypse, and a forest of trees and other vegetation that's been burned or has been decaying for years.

The little flightless bird had no idea what he was doing here, or even where 'here' was; therefore, he was fraught with fear and confusion…but he was soon to feel something much worse: terror.

As Don slowly passed a tall tree with nothing but a single dead limb, and perched on that limb was a shadowy, bird-like figure, as it silently glared down at the passing kiwi bird.

But even though the shadow didn't make a sound, Don still felt an agonizing presence chewing at his back, so he gained the urge to glance behind him…more specifically, up. And when Don finally noticed the bird-like shadow watching him up in the dead tree, he gasped and suddenly turned all the way around while also taking a couple of steps back, but his eyes never left the figure.

Many moments of no movement or sounds went by, as the stare off between the shadow and Don never ceased. But that all changed soon when the shadowy bird slowly started to unfolded its massive wings, and it started to flap them with loud gusts of wind emitting from them. The shadow slowly started to take lift off from its branch.

Just when it was a few inches from its branch, it finally brought out its talons, in they which shimmered like razors…and the shadow had its claws aimed right for Don; the said kiwi bird was now whimpering.

And that's when the terror finally set in, just as the shadowy bird suddenly darted for Don with a shrill screech and its claws bared.


	2. Chapter 2 - Surreal Nightmares

Surreal Nightmares

Just when Don knew he was a goner, as the shadow swooped down for him with sharps talons bared, he was lucky to awake with a start; it was all just a dream.

 _More like a nightmare,_ thought Don.

He still hadn't regained his memories, but he looked at himself to find that he was still a little kiwi bird, but he also soon realized that everything that happened last night was not a dream; Don glanced while his breaths slowed, and he found himself in a dimly lit boathouse.

He remembered that that night Ricky and the others took him to an old remote boat house to rest for a while, and Don soon proved that memory when he realized he was curled up next to Beauregard, who had volunteered to keep the poor boy warm, and was curled up and fast asleep himself; Waldo was asleep with his head leaned up against the fox's back, Taylor was sleeping next to him, and Joan slept by herself in a pile of boat sails in the corner. But when Don tried to go back to sleep, he and everyone were suddenly startled awake by the shrill screeching of a barn owl.

Meanwhile, Ricky was actually sitting out in the cold breeze just outside the boathouse doors because he just couldn't seem to sleep that night; after finding out that Don doesn't remember him as his best friend…the Doberman's heart had been aching. But while everyone else went back to sleep, Taylor did not, as she actually got up to go comfort Ricky.

"Them barn owls are a bit chatty tonight, huh?" Taylor joked to start a conversation.

"The barn owls aren't the problem," Ricky growled.

…

"Ya'll 'right?"

"I don't know, Taylor," Ricky sadly sighed as the white poodle sat down next to him, "Don and I were great pals, and I know it wasn't his fault but…"

"Oh, Ricky," Taylor began softly in reassurance, "c'mon, Darlin', you know mah hearts starts hurtin' if yours does too. Look, ah know things seem kinda bad now, but just give 'm time; I promise that he'll remember his best friend again."

"How can you be so sure? You saw how he looked at me…in fact, he didn't even see me at all; he looked right through me…like a complete stranger," Ricky protested while sulking his head in sorrow.

And Taylor honestly didn't know what to say after that…because Ricky was right; Don looked right through him. And with that, Ricky's fate suddenly drained from his heart, as he laid down on his stomach and whined, and as his fate left him, that's when a red aura suddenly flashed and engulfed his body; when the aura dimmed away, Ricky was now in his little, unappealing pug form again. Taylor was too kind-hearted to leave Ricky like this, so she laid down next to him, and curled herself around him to show that she's always right there for him, and they tried to drift off to sleep.

* * *

Don's room should be empty, but there was actually a scurrying creature in his room that night; that creature was Vincent, as the said seagull was flying back and forth…as if he was looking for something.

"Oh…where is it? You would think with a room this empty, it'd be easier ta find anything," Vincent growled in frustration after he pulled open both drawers in the nightstand next to Don's bed, but he still couldn't find what he was looking for.

But things got even more difficult when Vincent saw a light from downstairs turn on, and there were footsteps fast approaching up the staircase.

"Don? Don, is that you, Sweetie?!" Dianna called with worry, as she was followed by husband Rocko, in hopes that maybe their son finally returned…but to their devastation, they never saw their only child in his room.

"Don worry, Sweetie. I'm sure he'll turn up soon; Don's a tough kid," Rocko tried to reassure as he and his wife went back downstairs, but it didn't work, and Dianna just started to sob.

The only reason they didn't notice Vincent is that he was smart and fast enough to fly up and hide in the shadows of the support beams above Don's bed, and he flew back down onto the bed in a huff.

"At this rate, I'll never find it," Vincent groaned.

"If you're searching for something, I'm sure I can help you with your predicament."

Vincent immediately turned to the sound of a seductive, feminine voice to find a black house cat with bright lime eyes; she licked one of her front paws while sitting in the sill of the single window.

"Sarah," Vincent calmly stated with a cocked eyebrow.

"And just how did you know my name?" Sarah asked as she gracefully jumped down from the window, revealing the short stub she had for a tail, and the moonlight glistened off her whiskers that were just as long as her body.

"Just a lucky guess—but I know much more than that about you," Vincent replied while getting cocky, as Sarah jumped up onto the bed.

"Not bad, Bird Boy, but I'm making you an offer that you will want to take."

"Of course you are; you're the link to some of the greatest thieves around—but I know you; with every deal you make comes with a price. So, what is it you want, Rumplestiltsken?" Vincent questioned with a suspicious squint.

"Persistent today, aren't we? Alright, you've got me; I can be a nice cat, and I heard your wish—that, and you see me as a threat; personally, I don't find it surprising that I found myself to be a walking jinx magnet. You may think you're the worst of them all, Vincent—but newsflash: you're not. I know you're scared of me, and you know it too—so with that being said…" Sarah began, and then she smiled a huge evil smile; the black cat hunched her back, hairs standing on end, and from the end of her stubby tail came a bright lime light that rushed from her tail and up her back; the light pounced for Vincent, and once it hit him, it disappeared around him.

"What did you do ta me?" Vincent growled while cautiously holding his wings open, but Sarah didn't reply; the black cat only smirked while tilting her head to the right, beckoning Vincent to follow her gaze.

But when Vincent looked to his right, he gasped in shock; sitting there at the head of the bed was a doppelganger of Sarah, except for it's creepy, soulless lime eyes.

"You're the only one who can see, hear and feel her; she's there to follow you, and make sure you're holding up your end of the deal. If you don't—she'll remind you," Sarah explained seductively, and just as she kept talking, her creepy doppelganger crept up to Vincent, and her soulless eyes were now only inches from his own eyes.

"Ok…I'm listening," Vincent stated while holding his ground.

"I only prefer that I keep my purpose of the deal a secret for now, but if you can meet my demands, then I'll make sure I can meet yours—ya know, you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours," Sarah dramatically explained, and she pulled out her right claws while flashing the seagull a scheming grin.

…

"Fine."

"I'll alert my thieves immediately. What is it you're looking for—my puppet?"

* * *

The next morning, Don, Ricky and the others had to walk across Eudedapal's beaches to get to their next objective.

"Uh, Taylor?" Don called as he ran on his two little bird legs to catch up to the poodle, who was trailing in front of everyone.

"Yes?"

"Where exactly are we going?"

"To the Eunedapal Police Station; we've a friend who works there."

"Oh," Don said, as he then suddenly felt the urge to look to his left, where the forest up on a hill me the sandy beaches, and he looked up into the trees…but he suddenly had to do a double take when the kiwi bird swore he saw a small owl with dark, soot-colored feathers a heart-shaped face perched up in one of the trees…and it stared directly at Don with soulless, bright green eyes.

"Taylor…Taylor, Taylor," Don started to panic while noting even looking away from the dark owl.

"Yes, Sugar cube?"

"Look! Up there! See that owl?" Don asked quickly, and Taylor looked up to the tree she assumed Don was referring too…but she didn't see any owls.

"Um…no. What owl?" Taylor questioned with concern.

"Wha…?" Don asked with shock as he looked at the poodle and back again, but when he looked back up into the tree, the owl was gone without a trace; the sound of the owl's fluttering wings to get away wasn't even heard.

Don didn't get it. How come he was the only one who could see the owl…and no one else could?

But as Taylor noticed Don's worried expression, she suddenly looked behind her because she recalled that poor Ricky was trailing behind them, for the grief of his best friend still not remembering continued to eat away at the down pug. But that gave Taylor an idea; she smiled and closed her eyes while starting to hum a tune, and as she planned, it gained Don's attention.

"What'cha singin' there, Taylor?"

"Oh, just one of my favorite songs…wanna sing it with me? I'll teach ya there lyrics."

"Uh…ok."

Before Don knew it, Taylor started singing the same tune; that tune was The Black Eyed Peas' "I Got A Feelin'", and she soon started singing the lyrics as well, and in such a lovely voice. And no sooner had Taylor brought up the music had Joan, Beauregard and Waldo all joined in, as they walked in rhythm next to her and Don, and they started singing along with great singing voices too…but poor Ricky still remained down in the dumps, and he continued trailing behind them.

Taylor would sing the lead role, the others were her back-up singers, but Don soon caught on and he was the one who sang the melodious "whooo-hooos;" the others were surprised Don had such a good voice; even Beauregard, who was the most up-tight of them all, couldn't help but sing along a bit and put a slight smile on his face.

But when they reached the calmer bridge of the song, Ricky couldn't help but finally perk his eyes up from the ground…since this was his favorite song…and he smiled, as a red aura began to engulf him.

And before anyone knew it, they turned when they heard a new voice; that new voice was Ricky's, as he walked up to them when they stopped for him. Taylor smile in victory since this was her plan the whole time: to cheer Ricky up. But before they started to kick the music up again, Beauregard let Waldo hop onto his back, Taylor let Joan onto her back, and Ricky lowered his head to scoop up Don for the kiwi bird to ride on his back. Once they picked up their singing again, they started walk in a dancing-like rhythm to the music over the sand.

And when the song was coming to an end, Don finished it with a loud and proud whoop while standing tall atop Ricky's head.

"What are you doing here?! No dogs allowed on this beach!"

Just when Don was in the middle of his ending solo, a deep and angry voice rang through the air; everyone immediately paused, and their wide eyes landed upon a full grown, male, fawn and black-colored German Shepard dog; he was wearing intimidating sun glasses over his eyes, and a dark blue dog police vest was clasped around his chest.

"If there are no dogs allowed on this beach, then why are YOU here, Bub?!" Joan angrily asked when shed hopped down from Taylor, and she stomped up to the big dog.

"Because I make the law around here, Little Missy," the dog growled in a strong Irish accent while leaning his head down at the rat, but Joan glared into her reflection in his sun glasses.

"How ironic runnin' into you, Liam," Taylor said with a smile.

"That's Officer Liam to you, Taylor!" Liam suddenly barked.

"Right. Sorry. Officer Liam, we wanted to make a report to you of a victim of a crime; Don here recently had the 'curse' cast on him too," Taylor pressed on, and when hearing his name, he jumped down from Ricky's head out of curiosity, but the kiwi bird soon gasped at the sight of the Shepard.

Officer Liam walked up to the little bird, and he cautiously sniffed him, but seconds later, it seemed that the usually very serious dog was surprised.

"Don Downer," Officer Liam began matter-of-factly, "I didn't know Vincent's little hex worked on humans."

"Do I…do I know you?" Don questioned.

"You don't remember me? My owner and I always walked in every Saturday for donuts and coffee; you greeted my partner and I with a good morning every time," Officer Liam stated with confusion.

"For some reason, Vincent's curse works differently on humans; therefore, when the curse was cast on Don, he lost his memories of who he is," Waldo pointed out.

"What a pity," the Shepard huffed under his breath.

"Is there anything you can do to help the chap's predicament, Officer?" Beauregard questioned.

"We have no police in the field of the supernatural—but perhaps, I can give you an escort to the station; from there, maybe my partner will place you in the town's pound. You should be safe there."

"What'll we do from there?" Ricky urged.

"Given Don's scent, I picked up Vincent's too; all I can do is try and track him down; maybe get him to talk of his intentions, and put him in confinement. As for you folks, just lay low and stay out of trouble."

But as Officer Liam gave them their tour off the beach, three magpie birds perched together in a tree, and they watched with curiosity while keeping their eyes particularly on the kiwi bird.

"That little excuse for a bird is what we're after?" the tallest magpie asked in a gruff, masculine tone, and the scrawniest of them let out a disgusted gag in agreement.

"We've been after worse, Boys. This'll be a singe; the boss won't be happy ta hear that we chickened out of a kidnapping as easy as this one," the leader of them stated in a raspy female tone, but after she said 'the boss', the scrawny one started to babble nervous and paranoid noises.

"Exactly, Casper. 'She' doesn't take kindly ta weaklings," the female pointed out.

"Why do we gotta do this, anyway? It's not like we're pals with that seagull Sarah just buddied up with," Gasper, the tallest magpie, growled.

"Because we have ta find somethin' Vincent wants," Jasper replied with a grin.

"Yeah, but why?"

"'Cause Sarah's one step ahead—now c'mon, we gotta keep with that twerp."

With that, the three magpies took flight, and they made sure to stay out of sight of Don and the others.

* * *

Later that night, Officer Liam took the gang to the police station, and his partner called in at the Eunedapal animal shelter; they were confused as to why they were requested to take in two dogs, a skunk, a rat, a fox and especially a kiwi bird, but the employees at the shelter eventually agreed to provide a roof over the animals' heads.

As of now, the gang was caged separately, but they were able to see each other through the tall metal fencing. But the gaps in the fence weren't small enough to keep Joan caged; she was able to slip in and out of anyone's cages.

The said albino rat wasn't very fond of confinement anyway, so she slept outside the cages on the concrete floors, unlike the others, who all slept soundly on warm, blanketed floors…sometimes Joan was actually envious of her friends, and she sees this as a sign.

She could be the most beautiful rat in the whole world…and yet everyone would still see her like they've always seen a rat: as a vile creature. With that bad thought lingering in her mind, the rat decided to step outside the small shelter to get some fresh air.

As Joan stepped out into, she cool breeze and soft grass beneath her feet felt really good…but lurking through the bushes and the taller grass, growing ever closer to the rat, had terrible intentions, especially for Joan.

The said albino was too distracted by the beautiful night to notice the movement in the grass getting closer; though, it wasn't long before Joan finally heard a close by rustling in the grass…but what she turned to find almost gave her a heart attack.

Standing right there, with itself arched up over Joan, was a copper-colored, six foot long rattlesnake, and it had its hungry eyes set on an easy prey: Joan.

"Ah! Help! Help me!" Joan called out at the top of her lungs.

"And why would we do that?"

The sudden calm voice took Joan by surprise, and she couldn't help but turn her back on the snake to see whose voice was; it belonged to Ricky. He and the others were all standing at the back door of the shelter with straight faces, and Joan would've wondered how they even got out of their cages, but she was kept from that thought when she remembered that a snake was right behind her, planning to eat her.

"We don't like vile, evil little creatures like you," Taylor added, but she didn't sound the same, her voice was almost…echo-like.

"What? No! I'm not evil!" Joan cried.

"We are not going to take any chances," Beauregard added.

"You are a vermin, after all," Waldo pointed out.

"No…" Joan whimpered, as a tear fell, and that's when she turned back to find the snake arching even higher over her, and its huge fangs glistened with venom in the moonlight.

"Goodbye, Joan," Don finally stated, and that's when the snake finally stuck.

* * *

Joan woke with a gasp, and she quickly looked around; she soon found she was still alive, but she also wasn't outside anymore, but still inside, sleeping up on a support beam. It was all just a dream.

"You ok, Joan?"

The small voice that just piped up started the still-frazzled rat, but she looked down to find out that it was only Don. But the truth was that Joan was having a hard time looking at the kiwi; she knew it was just a dream...ok, a nightmare…but when she looked around at the others, who were all still sleeping, she couldn't help but feel alone.

"Joan?" Don pressed on.

"U-uh…uh, yeah…I'm fine, Kid," Joan lied, "just go back ta bed, will ya?"

Don was reluctant, but he wanted to believe Joan, so he just snuggled back up with Ricky and tried to go back to sleep. But Joan couldn't shake the terrible feeling of on-coming dread, so she immediately hopped down and headed outside.

Her main objective was actually to look for that snake from her dream, but she never found it.

"Looking for this?"

Joan gasped and turned to find the exact same snake from her dream…but dead and hanging in the beak of a grinning seagull.

"Vincent?" Joan questioned.

"Yes, Darling?" Vincent replied calmly after dropping the snake, and Joan couldn't seem to speak after that, "what are you so surprised about? The fact that you could've just been eaten alive—or because I just saved your life?"

"I-I…" Joan stuttered, "both?"

Vincent started to chuckle softly at that.

"My Dear…Poor, Little Joan," Vincent began as he slowly approached the rat, "how bad WAS that nightmare?"

"H-how did you know-?"

"I didn't—I was just being hypothetical. Most who have horrible nightmares try to immediately clear their mind. Why else would you be out here? Unless I never took you for the romantic type."

Joan was taken by surprise, especially when the seagull leaned against her, and he flashed her a seductive smile and lustful look in his eyes.

"What are you doing?" Joan suddenly questioned.

"Oh, I'm just trying to open your eyes."

"To what? What am I not seeing?

…

"Yourself."

"What?"

"You see yourself as someone full of potential—they don't; they see you as a rat; in other words, nothing but a little, evil, vile rat."

As Vincent's voice started to turn to a hiss, Joan's heart was starting to race with fear.

"You don't belong with them, and they don't belong with you. Know why?"

Joan shook her head.

"It's simple, really. You really DO have more potential in you than you think, and all you have to do is accept it—and I can show you how," Vincent replied in a lustful growl, and he even wrapped a wing over Joan, but she immediately pulled away from him.

"And why would I do that?" the rat asked angrily, "why am I even talking ta you?!"

"Because you're all alone."

Joan's eyes went wide at that because as much as she didn't want to believe her enemy…he was right.

"Oh, don't worry, Dearie. You come with me, and I'll take GOOD care of ya; I'll always be there for you—and I'll treat you right," Vincent reassured with a grin, and he once again took advantage of her by standing over her back, and wrapping both wings around her chest.

But sometimes a rat's gotta do what a rat's gotta do.

Joan wasn't going to fall to the dark side that easily, so she snarled, and she took her strong rodent teeth, and sank them into Vincent's wing.

"YOUCH!"

Joan jumped out from Vincent's grasp, but she soon turned and held her ground while sending the seagull a death glare. Vincent was hissing with the pain in his wing; Joan bit so hard, that she nearly broke his wing right at the thumb. But Vincent was no weakling, so he just shook his wing a bit to shake the pain off.

"I can see you're very obdurate," Vincent began calmly, but then he grinned again, "but no need to worry. My offer still stands firm, Dearie."

With that, the seagull flew off, ignoring the rat bite in his wing. But even after he was gone, Joan could still feel that something was wrong, and she clutched her head with both her paws when a sudden migraine hit.

"Ugh, I need some Advil," Joan groaned, and she walked back inside, where her friends were.


	3. Chapter 3 - Making New Friends

Chapter 3 – Making New Friends

 _She's right to fear you…what a shame…GINGER!_

Sarah woke with a start; her claws were out and digging into the ground, and her whiskers were perked out and alert. It was that same nightmare that's haunted her for many years.

Sarah stood and yawned, and she walked out of the abandoned fox den, and out into the misty forest; the morning was very cool with a chilly breeze, and the fog was so thick that Sarah could barely see ten feet around herself.

The black cat walked up to the nearest tree trunk, and she started kneading her front claws on the bark.

"Mory!" Sarah soon called out, but she never stopped kneading.

Mory soon swooped down from a nearby tree because he didn't want to keep the black cat waiting; Mory was also an owl, and he was a barn owl with soot colored feathers; the barn owl stared at Sarah with bright green eyes that had a rather blank expression.

"What is it, my lady?"

"Vincent is looking for something—stay away from him," Sarah replied firmly.

"Something? You mean me," Mory stated matter-of-factly.

"Yes, exactly. If he finds you, my chances of revenge will be ruined."

"All for this?" Mory questioned while raising his talons to pull something from his thick breast feathers.

Once Sarah turned and saw what Mory was talking about, she finally stopped kneading; the object in Mory's talons was actually an old and rusted silver dog tag, and he was wearing the chain to it around his neck.

"There was a reason I keep you, Mory," Sarah pointed out.

"To guard this with my life," Mory added firmly while stuffing the dog tag and chains back in his feathers to the point where it was no longer visible.

"Very good, Mory," Sarah stated softly with a smile, but then her smile curled down to a frown, "now, go; don't lose that kiwi bird and his friends and keep him safe. Your own life depends on that little bird."

* * *

The next morning at the Eunedapal animal shelter, the helpers had to give the animals their breakfast; Ricky and Taylor got dog food, Don and Waldo got bowls of insects, Beauregard was given a bowl of orange slices, and Joan was forgotten about, so she had to share Taylor's dog food.

"Oh, preposterous!" Beauregard snapped, "I don't like oranges! What tom-foolery!"

"I'll trade ya."

That sudden kind voice perked everyone's heads up; the voice came from the cage next to Beauregard's, and it turned out that there was a gorgeous female red panda with bright orange eyes, and she was given a bowl of banana slices.

"How coincidental. I absolutely love banana. Thank you kindly," Beauregard said with a smile as they switched their dishes by scooting their bowls underneath the fencing.

"Who are you?" Waldo questioned.

"My name's Breny, but you can call me Bree," Bree replied while eating an orange slice.

"How did you get here?" Taylor asked.

"Yeah, last time I checked, there are no red pandas in California, Mate," Ricky added.

"I was supposed to go to the San Diego Zoo not too long ago, but after a mishap during the zoo transfer, I was lost. But this one nice old lady found me, but because she couldn't keep me, she took me here. And here I am."

The others looked at each other with suspicion.

"What?" Bree asked.

"Have you even encountered this one weird seagull with crazy purple eyes?" Joan questioned for the rest of the group.

"Uh…no. Why?"

"No reason."

…

"So, what about you guys? What's your story?" Bree soon asked.

With that, Beauregard and Waldo shared glances with each other, and they smirked.

"I do believe that a story is required," Beauregard pointed out.

"But where to start?" Waldo pondered aloud, but he soon perked up and smiled again, "I got it…"

* * *

 _"_ _BREAKFAST!"_

 _The loud masculine voice startled Beauregard and Waldo, and they both woke with slight gasps; they were sleeping in their own private beds, which were made up of stacks of huge and fancy pillows._

 _Beauregard was first to rise, and he stretched left, right, front and back; soon the blue-ish fox headed for his personal dresser on his side of the room. He pulled the bottom drawer out with his jaws, and he leaned in and grabbed a monocle, among a hundred others, and he soon fitted it over his left eye._

 _"_ _Ugh…I'm too tired to be hungry," Waldo groaned and turned onto his other side._

 _"_ _If you get up and get dressed now, you will get first pickings of breakfast," Beauregard pointed out to his skunk friend._

 _"_ _But ya'll better hurry," a deep voice came, and the fox and the skunk turned to find a full grown, white lab, wearing a bright green collar with green eyes and a darker blonde, dollar sign-shaped birthmark on his left shoulder, in the doorway._

 _"_ _I like insects too, Wally, so ya better hurry," the lab chuckled while wagging his tail._

 _"_ _No!" Waldo screamed as he suddenly popped out of bed like a daisy, and he sprinted out of the room after the lab while struggling to slip on his trade-mark purple turtleneck._

 _"_ _Don't you dare eat it all, Dollar!" Waldo pleaded._

 _"_ _If I had a nickel for every time…" Beauregard sighed while shaking his head when he eventually finished grooming himself, and he soon left for breakfast._

 _Beauregard soon walked down a large, fancy, spiral staircase, and large and beautiful foyer was waiting at the bottom; the kitchen was no different from the rest of the house, mostly because Beauregard, Waldo and Dollar all lived in a mansion._

 _The cold white marble floor of the kitchen was certainly a wake up call for Beauregard, but he still needed his breakfast; Dollar and Waldo were both watering at the mouth for their food._

 _"_ _C'mon, K, we're gonna eat YOU if you don't hurry it up!" Dollar whined up at their owner, "I'll take either kind of bacon!"_

 _Their owner was actually the son of owners of the mansion; he was a black kid in his mid teens, and his name was K-Shizele Bacon._

 _"_ _Alright, guys, jeez, here ya go," K-Shizele laughed down at two of his pets, and he leaned down with a bowl of breakfast burritos for Dollar, and a bowl of insects for Waldo. The lab and the skunk immediately dove into their food._

 _"_ _Mornin', Beauregard. I've already got your usual: coffee and Danish banana Danish," K-Shizele added when he saw Beauregard walk in, and he brought the British fox a plat with a banana Danish and a bowl filled with coffee._

 _Once his bowl and his plate were on the floor, Beauregard took a small and polite bite out of the Danish._

 _"_ _Thank you, Mr. Bacon."_

* * *

"Wait a minute!" Don suddenly called and interrupted the back story, "you two lived in a mansion?"

"Yes," Waldo replied.

"But where's this 'Dollar' guy?" Don questioned.

"If you will be patient and wait until the end of the story, you will find out," Beauregard pointed out flatly.

* * *

 _"_ _I'm headin' to the court, Guys; come join me when you're done if ya'll want," K-Shizele pointed out while the others were still eating._

 _With that, the young man grabbed his jacket and left out the two grand front doors._

 _"_ _Looks like I'm takin' it ta go," Dollar added when he was about to eat his last burrito, and he stood up on his hind legs to reach and pull open a drawer; the lab pulled out a brown paper bag, and he soon stuffed the last burrito into the bag._

 _"_ _Wait up, K!" Dollar called in a muffled tone when he was running through the doggy door with his bagged burrito in his mouth._

 _"_ _Are you going too?" Waldo soon questioned his fox friend after slurping down an earth worm like a spaghetti noodle._

 _"_ _No, I'm quite happy right in the comfort of home, Waldo; you know me better than that."_

 _"_ _I guess you've got a point there, but since you're staying, would you like to come with me to research something?"_

 _"_ _Is it for yet another science experiment?"_

 _"_ _Not exactly. Ricky came to me yesterday that something REALLY weird happened to Taylor and Joan, and they asked me for help."_

 _"_ _Weird as in abnormal?" Beauregard questioned and then started taking a few licks of his coffee._

 _"_ _He didn't say," Waldo replied while grabbing another beetle in his paw and crunching it, "are you still in?"_

 _"_ _Well, a fox is required to stay fit, so I suppose I could use the exercise."_

* * *

 _The fox and the skunk were soon traveling to the outskirts of Uptown Eunedapal, where they needed to meet Ricky by a large hollow tree in the outer edge of the forest._

 _"_ _This is where he said to meet," Waldo pointed out, but wherever he looked, he couldn't find the Doberman anywhere._

 _"_ _Not to raise suspicion, but…does the air feel…'off' to you, Waldo?" Beauregard asked with worry._

 _Now that you mention it, the fur on my back has been standing up since we got here," Waldo added while wrapping his arms around himself to get warmer, and he was even chilled through his sweater; a cool morning coast breeze had just blown by, and it felt rather eerie to the fox and the skunk._

 _"_ _Feeling cold, Gentlemen."_

 _The sudden unfamiliar voice startled Beauregard and Waldo, and they immediately turned to the owner of the voice: a male seagull sitting up in the tree while staring down with a grin and crazy purple eyes._

 _"_ _I beg your pardon," Beauregard began, "but who are you?"_

 _"_ _Oh, my name doesn't concern you—what DOES is your appeal," Vincent replied._

 _"_ _Our appeal? What are you talking about?" Waldo questioned._

 _"_ _Oh, but why tell you—when I can show you?" Vincent asked slowly while unfolding his wings, and before Waldo and Beauregard knew it, Vincent darted for them in a flash…things went black._

* * *

"…After we woke up, Ricky came back with Taylor and Joan, and they woke us up with the bad news that they had recently been cursed too," Waldo finished explaining.

"How long ago was this?" Bree questioned.

"Approximately, a few months ago," Beauregard replied.

"So, are you still in contact with K-Shizele?" Bree pressed on.

"Of course," Beauregard answered while finishing his banana slices.

"Don?" Ricky suddenly questioned when he noticed how spaced out Don looked, "Don!"

"Huh?! What?!" Don asked in with a startle.

"We lost ya for a second there. What happened?" Ricky asked with worry.

"Yeah, no, I'm fine, I just…I swear that I've heard the name 'K-Shizele Bacon' somewhere before," Don pondered aloud.

"You should. You and your friends played some basketball with him on the court," Waldo pointed out.

"I-I did?" Don asked with shock, "w-well, you've gotta take me to him! Maybe he can help jog my memories."

"It's worth a try," Taylor pointed out, "Joan, would you mind?"

"One lock pick, comin' right up," Joan sighed, and she started to use her claws to successfully pick the locks on her friends' cages and let them out.

"Can I please go with you?" Bree called while leaning against the front of her cage.

"Sure, why not-OW!" Ricky began with a smile, but Joan suddenly jumped up onto his back and interrupted him by harshly pulling on his ear.

"Are you sure about this? We've never met this girl," Joan whispered into the Doberman's ear while suspiciously staring back at Bree.

"C'mon, Joan, what's the worse that could happen? Besides, the more the merrier," Ricky protested.

"Ok, fine. But don't you say I didn't warn you," Joan growled while finally letting go and hopping back down, and she reluctantly climbed up Bree's cage and picked the lock.

"Oh, thank you SO much; you won't regret your decision, I promise," Bree cheered once her cage door swung open.

"We're most likely to find K-Shizele sooner if we head for the basketball court first," Beauregard pointed out.

* * *

The gang and their new friend Bree soon escaped the shelter unnoticed, and they were now walking through the more quiet parts of Eunedapal.

"So, not only have you literally lost your memories, but you ALL have a curse put on you that can change your appearance?" Bree soon questioned with surprise.

"That's our story," Ricky simply replied.

"Wow…ya know, I never actually believed in magic, but I'm starting to have second thoughts," Bree stated while placing a paw on her forehead to comprehend everything.

"Oh, there are many more strange anomalies out there than just science," Waldo pointed out with excitement.

"Well, what confuses me is that most of your still have your memories after this 'curse'. Why don't you?" Bree asked Don.

"I-I really don't know, and I'm kinda scared to find out why," Don replied with fear.

"Well, Kid, I'll tell ya this; you guys got me out, so now I owe you. If you ever need help, I'll gladly repay the debt," Bree added while a smile, and it reassured enough to smile back.

"Hey, we're here!" Taylor suddenly called when she rounded a bend into a large alley with a basketball court.

"Well, this place is deserted," Bree pointed out after she and the others realized that no one was on the court.

"That it is; in fact, it's prohibited for the public to enter here," a voice growled, and everyone but Bree knew exactly who it was.

"What do you mean it's prohibited to come here, Mate?" Ricky questioned the said German Shepard, who was standing in the gateway entrance to the lot.

"This court was deemed too dangerous by the mayor due to the increase in crime rate in the area just last week. So, unless you have a permit—or want to get violated—I suggest you all leave the premises," Officer Liam growled.

"Can we at least go through to the Bacons' mansion without any trouble, Officer?" Taylor asked nicely.

"I'm afraid not, Miss; to get to the mansion, you'll have to take the detour outside of town. Now, leave before I have to report you," Officer Liam firmly warned, and he then left without another.

…

"He's as intimidating as Liam Neeson," Bree pointed out in a hushed tone.

"Liam Neeson or not, you don't want to mess with him, so we better get goin'," Ricky pointed out.

But just when they were about to leave, something suddenly fell from the sky, and it landed right in front of them in a blur; sitting right in front of them was a female magpie bird, and she was wearing a large grin on her face while her crazy blue eyes twitched.

But the one magpie wasn't alone, she was soon joined by two more crazy blue-eyed male magpies, who kept their wings mostly unfolded, as they surrounded the gang.

"You're not goin' anywhere—not with HIM," the female magpie pointed out while referring to Don.

"He's not going anywhere," Ricky growled while standing over Don to protect him, "so, I suggest you fly off, 'Mate'."

"Don't be so sure of yourself, stupid dog," the female taunted."

"There's seven again three; you ain't got a chance," Bree pointed out with confidence.

"Don't you know anything? Birds fly in flocks," the female added, and then she slowly glanced up.

The gang followed her gaze, but what they saw waiting for them took them by surprise; numerous other magpie birds were perched together all around the lot on the fence and on top of the building; they all stared down with haunting looks.

But just when their luck ran out, Don gasped when he saw something dark falling out of the sky, but it was too big to be another magpie; it was the soot-colored barn owl that has been stalking Don lately, and he was diving straight down.

"There he is! Don't you see him?!" Don suddenly called while trying to point out the owl.

"See who? There's no one there!" Joan first spoke for everyone, but Don became even more confused; the owl was in plain sight!

The magpies also couldn't seem to see the owl flying towards them either, but they would soon notice his presence; when the owl finally reached the ground, he attacked the female magpie first.

"What was that?!" she screamed when she felt something standing on top of her, but she saw nothing; the thing standing on top of her was the owl.

Once the other magpies noticed the paranormal force striking down their leader, they soon became scared and confused.

"Help me!" the female cried, but one by one, the magpies started to fly off; even the two who joined her on the ground flew off in fear.

"You fools!" the female magpie grunted, but she was soon picked up by the invisible force, and the sooty owl threw her many yards into the air. If she wasn't a bird, she would've fallen, but she soon gained her balance and opened her wings in time to fly off.

The others were confused as to what just happened, but Don could only stare up at the mystery owl with wonder; the owl hovered up in the air for a moment before finally glancing back down at Don with a straight face.

"Who are you?" Don asked silently, but soon, the owl flew off.

…

"Uh…what the heck was that?!" Joan exclaimed.

"It seems that a strange, paranormal force has saved us," Waldo pondered out loud.

"Is that that what you're going with, Egon?" Joan questioned sarcastically.

"Do you really want to stay and find out?" Bree asked sarcastically.

"Let's just get to K-Shizele's, Guys," Waldo pointed out, and they were finally able to leave after that.

* * *

The detour outside of town took a few hours until the gang could finally reach the front door of K-Shizele's mansion.

"Right through here, Everyone. You are all welcome inside," Beauregard said while stepping through the doggy door first, and everyone soon followed him…but Don was a little reluctant.

"You ok, Donny?" Bree asked when she stayed behind with him.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm ok, thanks for asking…but…" Don tried to search for the words.

"But…?" Bree urged.

…

"I feel like I'm being stalked."

"Stalked? By who?"

"Exactly! Every time I see…whoever the heck it is…I seem to be the only one who can see it!" Don hysterically explained, but then he looked over to find Bree's ears had drooped and she was cocking an eyebrow.

"You know what, just forget about it. I don't wanna freak you out," Don sighed.

"No, it's not that…well, it is kinda freaky since you're seeing things…but just know that you're not alone; the others and I are always right here if you need us," Bree quickly reassured while placing a paw over Don's shoulder.

"You two comin'?!" Taylor called from inside, and the kiwi bird and the red panda then went through the doggy door and into the mansion's grand foyer.

"Hey, it's my familia! How ya'll doin'?" a cheery voice came, and it turned out to be Dollar the young white lab, as he trotted out of the kitchen.

"Hey, Dollar. Nice ta see ya again," Taylor kindly pointed out.

"Mm! Taylor, Darlin', you look as beautiful as ever; keep doin' what'cher doin', Girl," Dollar said with a smirk.

"Still the ladies' man, huh Dollar?" Taylor giggled.

"Don't you know it?" Dollar asked with a wink, but then he was surprised when he finally noticed Bree and Don, "who are you, Homes?"

"I'm Breeny the red panda, but everyone calls me Bree," Bree replied with a smile, "and this here's Don."

"Don? As in Ricky's owner?" Dollar questioned, "Dude, what happened to ya?"

"Vincent," Ricky simply replied.

"That crazy bird? Shoot! I'm gonna turn 'm inta fried chicken if I ever get a hold of 'm," Dollar growled.

"Cut the goo-goo eyes, Romeo; we're looking for K-Shizele, have ya seen him?" Joan pointed out while crossing her arms.

"Ya just missed 'm; he went out to play on the court," Dollar replied.

"Well, he's going to be left disappointed when he gets there; that area of the town was shut down for a police investigation," Don explained.

"No kiddin'?" Dollar asked with shock, "well, until he gets back, anyone hungry?"

"I could eat," Joan replied.

"We got some leftover pizza from last night, c'mon," Dollar offered while heading back into the kitchen, and Joan, Waldo, Beauregard soon followed him.

…

"I saw that," Bree pointed out with a smirk to Ricky and Taylor.

"Saw what?" Ricky asked.

"You're jealous of Dollar, Ricky, and Taylor, you're obviously crushing on Dollar," Bree replied while crossing her arms.

"What?!"

But just before Taylor and Ricky could protest, the front doors suddenly opened, and it revealed K-Shizele, as he was carrying his jacket over his shoulder and he was wearing a blue jersey, a pair of blue shorts and a yellow sweatband.

"Hey, Guys. What brings ya'll here?" K asked with a smile, but then he noticed Bree and Don, "who's your new friends?"

"K-Shizele, Bree. Bree, K-Shizele," Taylor began.

"And you remember Don, K," Ricky pointed out matter-of-factly.

"THAT'S Don?!" K asked with shock when he stared down at the said kiwi bird, and everyone nodded in reply.

"Dude, what happened to you? Last time I checked, you weren't no bird," K added.

"The same thing that's happened to all of us: Vincent," Ricky replied.

"Wait a minute! Wait a minute!" Bree suddenly interrupted, "you're not freaking out that we're talking to you?"

"Nope. And don't worry, your secret's safe with me," K-Shizele reassured.

"Wow, what a friend," Bree sighed in defeat.

"Anyway, Mr. Shizele, we came here hoping that maybe you could help me get my memories back since you apparently knew me BEFORE this curse," Don reminded everyone.

"What do ya mean?" K questioned.

"Don also somehow lost his memories," Bree replied.

"Ouch. Talk about bad luck…well, I remember that you worked with your parents at that one café down town called Downers' Desserts."

"Anything else?" Don pressed on.

"You and your friends would sometimes come down and play on that court with me; you wore your lucky dog tags ta every game."

"Dog tags?" Don questioned.

"Yeah. Though, they weren't always lucky; you got hit with an old lady's purse one time," K added with a chuckle, "oh, that was so funny."

"Well…thank you for your help, Mr. Shizele, but…I'm afraid I still can't remember anything," Don sadly sighed.

"Hey, you're welcome, little dude, and remember: K's got your back," K-Shizele reassured while quickly squatting down to ruffle Don's head and back feathers.

But while Don smiled at K-Shizele, Ricky couldn't help but watch them with a frown; his best friend had no memories what-so-ever oh him. What if Don never remembers him again? Ricky's slightly whined while his ears drooped at that thought.

Meanwhile, they never knew it, but watching them from outside a foyer window sill was none other than Vincent and Sarah.

"How long will I have to wait?" Vincent questioned in a hushed tone.

"Patience, Vincent, patience. You'll know plans—eventually," Sarah replied with a grin while not even looking at the seagull.

"Listen, Cat, I'm not gonna stick around if I'm unaware of my partner's intentions," Vincent pointed out firmly, and he slightly spread his to intimidate the tailess cat.

But Sarah wasn't at all scared; she only looked at Vincent with a blank slate expression.

"I'm trying to avenge someone."


End file.
